COP25, the UN climate talks in Madrid, ends in a sad splutter

THE TAGLINE for this year’s United Nations climate talks, known as COP25, held in Madrid, was “Tiempo de actuar”: time for action. Its logo was a clock, showing a quarter to 12. Midnight duly passed on Friday, scheduled as the summit’s last day, and then again on Saturday. Yet, despite running nearly two days into overtime, finishing only on Sunday December 15th, the talks failed to produce real action to tackle climate change. A final set of documents fell short on both of the meeting’s main goals. They agreed on only weak and watered down commitments to the drastic cuts in emissions of greenhouse gases that had been promised. And a decision on regulations for new international carbon markets was deferred until next year.Frustrated, angry demonstrations punctuated the summit, as they have disrupted cities and schools around the world for the past 12 months, decrying political inaction in the face of a global climate emergency. But in Madrid, the politics were still gridlocked.